Saudi Arabia officially
warned Britain of an imminent terrorist attack on London just weeks ahead
of the 7 July bombings after calls from one of al-Qaeda's most wanted operatives
were traced to an active cell in the United Kingdom.
Senior Saudi security sources have confirmed they are investigating whether
calls from Kareem al-Majati, last year named as one of al-Qaeda's chiefs
in the Gulf kingdom, were made directly to the British ringleader of the
7 July bomb plotters.

One senior Saudi security official told The Observer
that calls to Britain intercepted from a mobile phone belonging to Majati
earlier this year revealed that an active terror group was at work in the
UK and planning an attack.

He also said that calls from Majati's lieutenant and
al-Qaeda's logistics expert, Younes al-Hayari, who was killed in a separate
shoot-out just four days before the 7 July bombings, have also been traced
to Britain.

The Saudi official said: 'It was clear to us that
there was a terror group planning an attack in the UK. We passed all this
information on to both MI5 and MI6 at the time. We are now investigating
whether these calls were directly to the London bombers. It is our conclusion
that either these were linked or that a completely different terror network
is still at large in Britain.'

Majati, a Moroccan based in Saudi Arabia, was killed
in a shoot-out with Saudi police in April. He is believed to have masterminded
the May 2003 attacks on Casablanca and has also been named in connection
with the March 2004 Madrid bombings.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK, Prince Turki
al-Faisal, last night issued a statement confirming that discussions had
taken place between British and Saudi officials earlier this year.

A statement from his office said: 'There was certainly
close liaison between the Saudi Arabian intelligence authorities and the
British intelligence authorities some months ago when information was passed
to Britain about a heightened terrorist threat to London.'

It is not believed that any specific information was
given, but that details were passed on of calls, emails and text messages
between an al-Qaeda cell operating in Saudi Arabia and a group in the UK.

Italian investigators into the failed bomb attack
in London on 21 July revealed last week that they had traced a call from
Hussain Osman, a suspect being held in Rome, to Saudi Arabia. It is believed
these calls were to a female member of Osman's family but the significance
of this is now being played down.

The statements from the Saudi regime are likely to
shift the focus of the investigation into the London bombings from Pakistan
to Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

If it emerges that a top international Islamic terrorist
was in direct contact with 30-year-old Mohammed Siddiqui Khan, the leader
of the Leeds cell which killed 56 people, it will also suggest that the
bombings were more closely connected to the international terror organisation
than previously thought.

However, if information passed to Britain from Saudi
Arabia turns out to lead directly to the ringleader of the Leeds suicide
bombers, then the British security services will have to explain why they
failed to act.

British security sources last night categorically
denied they received any warnings of a specific attack on London that could
have averted the July tragedy in the capital. The source said they 'did
not recognise' the details of the Saudi claims.